Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Public transport does not represent an effective substitute for a great deal of the travel and transport that generates a carbon impact. That is part of the problem we face. When we looked at and got the professional advice on the degree to which modal shift would contribute, the unfortunate answer was that the contribution of modal shift to the reduction of carbon emissions will be surprisingly low. I was surprised myself. We have to focus to a great extent on changing the type of travel that occurs while moving to electric vehicles which represent a very strong opportunity for us to meet our carbon emissions targets within an early period. I do not accept Deputy Eamon Ryan's view that modal shift is not a major part of the change that is coming. While it may not have a great impact on carbon emissions, it can have a huge impact on quality of life, in particular in our towns and cities. There is a very welcome change in the new strategies that will emerge on park and ride, cycling and the new capacity of local authorities to introduce measures in their own areas to improve the modal split and the environmental soundness of what is happening in transport locally. We look forward to those five-year strategies that will have to be published before the end of the year or early next year in respect of cycling, park and ride and so on. The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport will also make the point that if one compares new public transport at, from memory, €8 billion with new road spending, which is much smaller at €3 billion or €4 billion in the plan, the comparison is not far off the 2:1 proposal. However, 2:1 is not the way we should be planning infrastructural choices of this nature. One of the important decisions in the plan is that anyone planning any public investment will have to price carbon on the basis of a trajectory reaching €265 per tonne by 2050. That will undoubtedly change the type of investments chosen within the national development plan. However, there are needs with regard to roads. Other Deputies will indicate that there are needs at critical points where new road investment is needed.

Transport will continue to have to make significant changes. For the first time in this plan, we have a very ambitious target for transport to reduce its emissions. Members will have seen over recent years that transport has consistently expanded its emissions. Deputy Eamon Ryan is right about that happening nearly throughout the whole period. Even before the recovery started, there were signs that transport emissions were increasing. This is a massive change in the direction of travel to which the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has committed with regard to the carbon emissions the sector generates. There are major commitments to improving public transport while also changing fuel use and developing strategies to align travel to a greater extent with compact living, which we all desire to see. In BusConnects, we see the ambition that exists not only to improve bus services but to add 200 km of safe, separated cycling. There is a significant ambition regarding a shift from where we have been. I commend the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport for stepping up to the plate and for taking responsibility in this area. As with every other sector, we expect the Department to deliver on what it seeks to achieve here.